William l



UNITED STATES WILLIAM L. STEVENS, OF WOODSTOWVN, AND MAURICE B. AYARS,OF SALEM, NEW JERSEY; SAID STEVENS ASSIGNOR TO SAID AYARS.

CAN-FILLING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,686, dated December17, 1889.

1 Application filed February 27, 1889. Serial No. 301,338. (No model.)

- nish a movement for actuating the cut-off or closing plate, whichcloses the end of the cylinder, so that this plate will only be'loweredand the end of the cylinder open where the tomatoes or other materialsare passing from .20 the cylinder into the can, so that the can whenfilled may be immediately removed from the machine without any loss oftime and without any of the material escaping; second, to furnish aface-plate which will have an annular projection upon it which willextend just inside of the mouth of the can, and which is furnished withperforations through which the air in the can will escape while the canis being filled; third, to furnish a yielding connection between thebifurcated actuating-lever and the plunger, which will insure uniformityin filling the can.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a central sectional elevation of acan-filling machine em- 5 bodying our improvements; Fig. 2, a sideelevation of the same; Fig. 3, an end elevation of plunger and part ofbifurcated lever, and Figs. 4 and 5 a front and side elevation of ourface-plate.

As in the patent above referred to, A is a table or frame which carriesa horizontal metallic bed (1, in which rests a cylinder or tube B, whichis drawn out or conical at its forward end, and which is furnished witha hopper h, in which the fruits, vegetables, or meats to be canned areplaced.

H is 'a plunger, which forces the article into the can. This plunger isactuated, as described in the patent before referred to, by a bifurcatedarm 1, which is carried upon a lever L, which is carried by a transverseshaft E, journaled in suitable bearings in the frame A. V

D is a shaft carrying a pinion m, which meshes into and drives agear-wheel I, to the shaft G of which are also secured two cams g and g,the former of which, through lever K and connecting-rod F, actuates thelever L, and through arm Z the piston H. For purposes of adjustment theupper end of rod F is furnished with a slot f, and the lever K isattached to arm F by a bolt f, passing through this slot. The other endof lever K issecured to arm l at It.

The cut-off or closing plate 19, which closes the end of cylinder B whenthe material is not being forced into the can, is operated as follows: tis a lever, one end of which is pivoted to the frame A ata, and theother end of which has pivoted to it one end of a link d, the other endof which is. attached directly to the cut-off. The lever t' rests uponthe cam g, and during the revolutions of this cam the lever t' is movedup and down, and through arm (1 moves cut-off 13 up and down, openingand closing the end of cylinder 13. The cam g is so shaped and placed asto only lower the cutoff p when the meats or vegetables are being forcedinto the can. Immediately after the can is filled the end of thecylinderis closed, the filled can withdrawn, and anew can put in placewithout danger of any of the materials escaping from the cylinder B.

The L-shaped lever J, which clamps the can in place while being filled,is actuated by a rod N, one end of which is secured to lever J, andwhich extends down and passes through lever L. n is a tappet on rod N.The rod Nis bent over, as shown in the drawings, and to this bend isattached one end of a spring 0, the other end being secured to lever L.After the can has been put in place the lever L moves down, drawingspring 0 down, and through rod N throws the lever J against the end ofthe can and holds the can in place. During the further downwardmovements of leverL the spring 0 gives, and hence the bottom of the canis not injured by the lever J exerting undue pressure upon it.

As the lever J rises it strikes tappet n on rod N and throws lever Jaway from and releases the can, which is then filled and ready to beremoved.

In order that no material may escape while the can is being filled, wefurnish the face plate 0, Figs. 4 and 5, with an annular projection e,which enters the hole in the top of the can. This projection e isfurnished with a number of holes f, through which the air in the can canescape while the materials with which it is being filled are beingforced into it. These holes are notabsolutely necessary, but arepreferable.

In order to insure uniformity in filling the cans, We use a yieldingconnection between the arm Z and the plunger H. Upon the plunger H is across-head P, Fig. To this crosshead one end of the yielding connectionis attached, the other end being attached to the upper end of bifurcatedarm I. The yielding connection consists of a spring 7L, Fig. 2, which isheld in a frame 7c. One end of frame I; is

attached to cross-head P, and one end of the spring h is secured to thisframe by a screw I 0. The other end of spring h is secured to arm Z by apin p. When the can is full and i before the end of the stroke isreached, the spring It will give, and hence uniformity of filling isobtained without straining the can or causing leakage between the canand faceplate. I

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent The combination, in a can-filling machine, ofcylinder 13, plunger II, arm Z, with bifureated top, cross-head P,frames is, springs h, cams g g, levers K and L, arm F, lever 2', rod (Z,cut-off p, lever J, rod N, and spring 0, all

for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in the presence of twowitnesses.

\VILLIAM L. STEVENS. MAURICE l3. AYARS.

*itnessesz JOHN F. IIALBACH, S. CARMAN KINTZING.

arranged and operating substantially as and

